Bob Church said: >mention of ferret or polecat. (Older King James versions say 'ferret' but >that has been proven to be a mistranslation of the Hebrew for 'gecko.') Gecko Ferret ----- ------ long, slinky long, slinky bites bites cute toes cute toes often has a 'huh?' expression ditto escape artist goes without saying i suggest everyone double-check to make sure they havent accidentally gone off and bought GECKOS for their pets. clever geckos are EVERYWHERE, donning fur coats and fake plastic fangs - they could be invading YOUR household in the guise of our hapless weasels! re: plastic bags - I had a terrifying incident with Potpie once. I used to leave the plastic shopping bags around for her to play in, as they're easily her favorite ever toy. One night, while getting ready to go out and see Anonymous 4 sing at a local church, i heard a weak and persistent scrabbling coming from inside a plastic bag under my bed. At first, it sounded like her average play noises, but after a minute it persisted and i pulled her out to find her shaking, weak, wet, and frothing at the mouth. she'd clawed at her mouth and torn the skin on her gums and face until she bled. The nearest i can figure is that she'd fallen asleep and stuck her nose into a corner, or turned over and gotten her nose blocked by bag, then panicked and woke up as her air supply suddenly stopped. she obviously couldnt find her way out of the bag. That was two years ago, and only just recently have i started giving her plastic bags again, but 1) only one bag, 2) i always know where it is, 3) it's HUGE, and 4) i'm almost always watching her with it. Noodle and Friday dont get them at all, as they are prone to falling asleep in anything. re: cats - just to relate a funny story - I got a new roommate recently, and she brought her cat Bonnie in. Anyway, Bonnie has no exp. w/ferrets, and Potpie and her were out with me and my SO on my balcony the other day. Potpie ignores cats unless she can attack them 'under cover,' so to speak, so she was just scampering around, digging in the planter dirt, etc. Bonnie watched her warily, and once Potpie blindly ran right up under her nose, then stopped as she looked up to see Bonnie, who'd slowly raised one paw to either bat at Potpie playfully or warn her; Potpie backed up sloooowwwly, then ran off to dig around more. Bonnie ignored her after that. :) Noodle, btw, will viciously attack any and every cat he sees. Friday and Potpie ignore cats unless 1) it's on a bed and they can sneak in under the sheets to attack from below, or 2) it runs from them. Chase! heehee. Melissa and the zoo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Melissa Litwicki "Is it ... atomic?" [log in to unmask] "Yes! VERY atomic!" [Posted in FML issue 1609]